• ESPN and Uninterrupted, the digital media company founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter, will debut an original series, More Than An Athlete, Nov. 20, exclusively on ESPN+. The eight-episode series follows James’ journey from basketball prodigy to global sports icon, businessman and philanthropist via the bonds of friendship and partnership among four men over more than two decades: James, Carter, Randy Mims and Rich Paul.

• The NFL and Mexico's President-Elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador confirmed that the third game of the existing agreement signed in 2016 will be played in 2019 at Estadio Azteca. The date and time of the game will be determined in conjunction with the release of the 2019 NFL schedule next spring

• NBC Sports and the Premier League are partnering to present their second Premier League Mornings Live, scheduled to take place in New York on Saturday, Dec. 8. The event will include a turf pitch, the Premier League trophy, club mascots and special guests. The initial fan fest in September was attended by more than 2,000 on a rooftop overlooking the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C.

• Between now and Nov. 19, every use of #SaluteToService on Twitter will generate a $5 donation, up to $5 million, to the NFL’s military non-profit partners – including the Pat Tillman Foundation, TAPS, USO, Wounded Warrior Project and the Bob Woodruff Foundation.

On Sunday, with another Xmas rematch between LeBron James’ Cavaliers and Stephen Curry’s Warriors, plus such stars as Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook running on the court, NBA partners including JBL’s Harman Audio, Kia, State Farm, Spalding and Foot Locker will be running campaigns on-air and via other activations.

Among the highlights:

• Harman will break a spot featuring Curry, part of a larger Christmas Day effort including JBL sponsorship of each halftime show, an NBA.com homepage takeover and “extensive social presence.”

• State Farm will break a commercial in its new "Combinations" campaign, which features Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan and Damian Lillard.

• 20th Century Fox will air three new commercials for Hidden Figures — its Xmas day release telling the story of three female African-American NASA employees who overcame challenges in 1962 to become key members of the team that enabled John Glenn to become the first American to orbit the Earth — with the spots to star NBA players Tyson Chandler, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams and their daughters.

• Kyrie Irving of the Cavaliers will appear in two separate campaigns, one a generic humorous spot for Kids Foot Locker, "Not So Different," another for Nike touting the release of his Kyrie 3 signature shoe.

• EA Sports will continue its recently launched "12 Days of Christmas" countdown campaign for NBA LIVE Mobile, featuring numerous in-game events and special items. According to EA, special in-game virtual snowflake currency allows players to access special edition Christmas offers, including limited-edition players, in-game apparel and merchandise.

The currency and limited-edition prizing will become available during the NBA Christmas Day games.

• Spalding this month began a partnership with Chris Paul for its "True Believers" campaign, with special emphasis on the 125th anniversary of basketball — first game was played on Dec. 21, 1891 in Springfield, Mass., under the watchful eye of the game’s creator, Dr. James Naismith — and the brand will play up the event with Xmas marketing.

The NBA itself will also be in on the action.

Voting for the February NBA All-Star Game presented by Verizon will launch on Christmas, supported on-air and across NBA digital assets.

For fashion-conscious viewers, all players on Christmas will wear adidas Xmas uniforms and Stance socks designed for the occasion, to be promoted on NBA social and digital platforms.

Nike athletes including James, Irving and Kevin Durant will wear special holiday kicks, as will adidas athletes. Under Armour spokesman Curry will lace up his Xmas-themed Curry 3. Various activations will support the retail release of the respective shoes.

And if just watching hoops on TV is too static, the league on Thursday (Dec. 22) launched NBA InPlay, a real-time interactive fantasy game via FanDuel and presented by Autotrader, which allows people watching nationally televised NBA games to play against each other.

The free app (available via the iOS App Store and Google Play) will be active during the Xmas games, supported by a multi-media effort.

"We are always looking at ways to enhance the viewing experience, drive people to tune in to our broadcasts and increase the time spent watching live games," Melissa Rosenthal Brenner, the NBA's svp-digital media, said in a statement. "NBA InPlay has the potential to meet these objectives while offering our fans an engaging, new way to experience the game."